William de oew



W. DE. GEW.

(No Mogel.)

CARGOUPLING.

No. 274,180. Patented Mar; 20.1883'.

UNITED STATES` PATENT OFFICE.

yWILLIAM DE oEw, E BUFFALO, NEW vonk.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 274,180, dated March20, 1883.

Application tiled February 5. 1833. (No model.)

. l of.. To all whom @t may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM DE GEw, of

-York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements onCar-Couplings; and I do hereby declare that the following description ofmy said invention, taken in connection with the accompanying sheet ot'drawings, forms a full. clear, and exact specification, which wil-lenable others skilled in the art to which it ap-A pertains to make anduse the saine.

My present invention has general reference to improvements inoar-couplings; and it consists essentially in the novel and peculiarcombination ot' parts and details of construction, as hereinafteriirstiully setforth and described,

and then pointed out in the claim.

In thel drawings already mentioned, which` serve to illustrate my saidinvention more fully, Figure l is a longitudinal sectional elevation ot'a pair oi' drawbars, illustratin g my novel coupling device. Fig. 2 is asimilar view, showing-the draw-heads ready for coupling. Fig. 3 is aplan, part being in section. Fig. 4 is a similar view on a larger scale.Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of a portion ot' a drawhead, indicatinga modified forni of my said invention.

Like parts are designated by corresponding letters of reference in allthe figures.

The object of my present invention is to solve the problem otconstructing a car-coupling in which an ordinary link can be used, andby meansof which connection between two cars can be made without dangerto the life and limbs of the brakeman or other person employed to attendto the coupling of' railway` cars. I attain this end by the use of a.link of peculiar construction, or by the use of an ordinary link in adraw-head of novel design in such manner that the said link is held inan elevated position and guided into the opposite draw-head withoutcompelling the attendant to place his hand in' front of the bumper.

A designates a similar pair ot' draw-bars, they being constructedexactly alike, so that in describingone of them such description willalso answerfor the other. This draw-bar A has an internal recess, B, forthe reception of the couplinglink E, said coupling-link being retainedin position by means of a couplingpin, D. This coupling-pin Ipreter toconstruct of dat iron with a reduced portion, d, so as to leave ash'oulder, d', Fig. 5, which shoulder, resting upon the end of the link,keeps the same depressed on account of the weight of the saidcoupling-pin.` the said coupling-pin D, I form a crook, D', serving thepurposeot` a handle, while in the link E, I provide a bridge or stay,G,near one end, so as to produce in said link an oblong aperture, h,Fig; 3, for the reception of the enlarged portion of said coupling-pinE, thus forming a handle for thelink to guide the same into theoppositedraw-head from the top of said` draw-bar, thus avoiding the necessityot' placing the operators hand in front of the bumper-surface C, wheresuch hand is liable to be crushed if the said operator is the leastcareless when attending to the coupling of cars. VTo enable the pin D tosustain the link E in an elevated position, as shown in Fig. 2, I form abend, H, in said link near the bridge G, so that when the shoulder d ofsaid pin rests'upon the portion of the link within the draw-head theopposite end ol said link will be raised in a manner readilyapprehended; but

instead of' said bend in the link E, I may form a rise, I, inthedraw-head, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the weight of the pin (with theassistance of the operator, if necessary) is capable ot' depressing theportion .of said link within the On the 4upper end ot' drawhead, andthus accomplish the desired resultin precisely the same manner as thebent link will produce the same. By constructing the drawhead asdescribed with reference to Fig.5 I am enabled to use an ordinarystraight link, while by bending such a link into the shape shown inFigs. l and 2 I can use this link and my im proved pin in an ordinarydrawbar.

'It will thus be seen that when constructing new car-couplings'accordingto my improved design no additional expense will have to be incurred,while at a tritling cost all old drawheads, 8vo., may be readilyconverted into my my coupling-pin from the sides or the top of IOO e lescaso the car, or both, if desired, such mechanism being very simpleand inexpensive in construction. In this case I may discard the crookD', if necessary, to enable connection being made With such operatingmechanism.

Y By the application of my improved car-coupling tot'reight, &c.,cars, Iderive, among' others, the advantage of saving time in coupling, be-

cause connection can be made with my improvedv coupling in less timethan any other non-automatic coupling, because the link can be actuatedby the crook Dl on the coupling-pin D laterally as Well 'as vertically,and thus guided into the opposite draw-head, and thereby time saved thatwould often be lost by misses in makingproperconnection. Ifurthermoregain in space, because when coupling is ljrst made one of the pinsengages the links on its narrow portion, but as soon as thecars a-recoupled and pushed together this pin will drop and engage the link onits widest part, thus shortening each connection for a spacecorrespoliding to the difference in Width of the said couplingpin, whichis quite an advantage inrailvvay appliances of the class mentioned.

lt is perfectly obvious that where cars of different spur or height areto be coupled together such connection can be made in the usual mannerby means of S-links and similar Well-known contrivances.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure to me by Letters Patent of the United States- As an improvedarticle of manufacture, a car-couplingconsistingessentially of thedrawhead A, having the link-receivingrecess B and pin-apertures b, ofthe link E, having the bridge Gr and the bent portion H, and the pin D,provided with the reduced portion {1,shoulder d', and crook D', thewhole being,` constructed and organized forjointoperation, substantiallyin the manner as and for the object specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have heretoset my hand in the 45 presence of three subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM DE GEW.

Attest:

JOHN G. HANEY, ENos GoULD, COR'ILAND DE GEW.

